When the young midfielder made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This statement proved to be something of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his maiden summons to the senior England squad.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a true blast from the past, a story seldom seen in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, let alone featuring in the Premier League and representing the national team too,” Scott said previously.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for myself and my family.”
So how did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer him an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Instead, he opted to stay on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he explained.
“All I desired to chill at home with my friends at weekends because I had missed nearly several years of that experience. Getting that little bit of youth back was something I really needed.
“To gain some confidence by coming back and playing local football was huge for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial factors that got me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an promising start in men’s football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“It was hectic,” said the player. “The first day I joined the youth team, the next day I was with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against Luton.
Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the club while still a teenager, often being used as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his ability to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and England playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he will represent England and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated last year.
Within 90 days after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
The midfielder experienced a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“I had a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“It was almost another setback and it was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, developing a strong understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season just as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to help them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” Scott said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, getting better every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
